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Last week I went out to dinner with some folks to this amazing restaurant in McMurray (Peter’s Township), Arlecchino. My cousin had invited me here over a year ago but then we ended up cancelling our plans and I’d wanted to go ever since she mentioned it. This place is in an old, converted school house. It’s not very big and even on a weeknight I’d probably recommend reservations.

The staff is very courteous and seemed to know when to pay attention and when to leave us alone. The menu was amazing and the portions are very large. They get in their meat and produce daily so know everything is fresh. They also modify the menu each day depending on what they get in I think!

So to start, they bring out a salad for the table to share. It had roasted beets and many other good things in it and was lightly dressed, it was perfect. They also bring out their bread and some “holy oil” (which is infused oil for dipping). After the salad, out came some pasta with a vodka sauce. They also brought out a hot pepper oil if you want to add that to the pasta. A little went a long way, but it did add a little kick to the pasta and was really good!

After all of that food, out came our meals. I really only remember what I got, but I know there was a pork dish, a veal chop and a fish dish around the table, here are some pics of their meals…

I did get to taste each of these and they were all fantastic. Everything was very fresh and cooked perfectly. As for me, I ordered the Cottoletta del Monzu.

This was three pieces of thin veal scallopini finished with fresh mozzarella, colossal lump crab, arugula, and toasted pine nuts. It was so good, but there were two leftover pieces when I was done. After the salad and the pasta who could blame me, this was huge! The flavors in this blended perfectly and there was just enough cheese, not too much as sometimes happens when you go out for Italian. I loved the addition of the arugula, it added something to the dish that I can’t quite explain, but I think it really brought the crab and the veal together.

And since it was still my birthday week, we got dessert. We ordered a raspberry Tiramisu.

It was light and fluffy and awesome. The topping reminded me of a burnt almond torte, it was nice and crunchy. The filling was so fluffy it was a little like what I assume biting into a cloud would be like 🙂

Overall, I was super impressed with my meal. This isn’t a place I’d go to all the time, it was pricey, but was also worth the money. This may be one of my favorite places that I’ve been to since I’ve been back in Pittsburgh though, and I’ve been to some pretty amazing restaurants around town!

The food quality is good but no where near worth the price, and as your photos attest the presentation is awful, they are just slopped on a plate like a pile of vomit plus they are so proud of the massive portions just adding to the ever increasing waist line of the American people.

I have been on vacation with a six and ten year old at Disney for the past several days, so I was trying to remain focused on them having a good time. Anyway, as to your comment. The portions are ridiculous, but I won’t blame restaurants for the increasing waistlines of the public. No, they don’t help, but for my meal, I only ate about 1/3 of it and got two more meals out of it. So it takes a little discipline on our parts to realize that we don’t have to clean our plates. I agree with you on presentation, it left a lot to be desired, but I thought the food was good. It was also expensive to go there, but again, I got 3 meals out of it, so if you don’t need to eat the whole thing at once, it isn’t as bad. I stick with my assessment, I enjoyed my meal, no, this isn’t a place if go all that often, but I had a good experience overall.